. >> reporter: by hackers to steal information from the fbi and cia. they said they were using innocent servers to bounce around the internet with their final targets the fbi and the cia. this makes it difficult to trace the hackers. did they gain access to the district files? >> no. we have been told our firewall wasn't breached. they used it to cover their tracks but they never got through our firewall which is where that information is. >> reporter: since there was no breach, uncle sam asked them to leave the server up and running to trap the bad guys. did it work? >> they said if we told you, you would have to -- we would have to kill you. i don't know. i hope. >> reporter: they are learning how to guard themselves against hackers. consumer editor tom vacar ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the white house is down playing a report that hackers tied to china broke into a government system. officials say it had a network, and no secrets or data were stolen. yesterday a newspaper said hackers got into a system used for nuclear commands but the white house said